HOW THE GUERRILLA GIRLS HOLD THE ART WORLD ACCOUNTABLE

She's My Muse | Jaime Meier

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The first time I saw artwork by the Guerrilla Girls in person was during the exhibition "The Incomplete History of Protest" at the Whitney Museum, which displayed the group's criticism of said museum for its sexist and racist collection. It was impressive to see that the impact of the group was so large that it not only pushed for the institution to change, but the institution displayed the works to publicly hold itself accountable and acknowledge its shortcomings. One of the most interesting things about the Guerrilla Girls is that, in addition to their impactful art, they are able to organize group action through anonymity and intersectionality. 

"History of Wealth and Power" by the Guerrilla Girls | Source

The Guerrilla Girls are known for their posters that call attention to gendered and racial inequality within art institutions, with their most famous poster comparing the amount of female artists and amount of naked women on display at the Met. Natalie Sherman's article gives a great overview of the group's history, beginning in 1985 and continuing to the present. A consistently relevant 35-year career is no easy feat within the art world and I believe this success is due to the 55 members that have joined the group over the decades. Some members stay for weeks while others stay for years, with the fluctuating membership allowing for new talent and ideas to keep the group relevant. A major part of their appeal to so many members is their dedication to intersectionality.

"Traditional Values and Quality Return to the Whitey Museum" by the Guerrilla Girls | Source

While the title "Guerrilla Girls" instantly associates them with women, the heart of their organization is feminism, which transcends gender. One of my favourite things about the group is that they do not homogenize by only looking at gender, they also consider racial implications that impact artists of colour. Their earliest works, such as "Traditional Values and Quality Return to the Whitey Museum," important demonstrate the distinction between gender and race. Most recently, they created a video in response to the ongoing police brutality in the United States. 

"NYC Recount" by the Guerrilla Girls | Source

Every few years the Guerrilla Girls update their posters to analyze how and if things have changed within the institutions they have critiqued. The continued accountability and calls to action are crucial for continued and sustained change. The updates often reveal minor improvement and quickly remind the institution that a one time or slight improvement will not be accepted in the place of sincere change. I believe the Guerrilla Girls are creating an art world that will allow for more people to enjoy art institutions because they will actively see themselves reflected and be more likely to engage. 

THE TOLL OF BRIDGING THE GAP: GENDERED AND RACIAL SYSTEMATIC SEPARATION IN MUSEUM STUDIES

She's My Muse | Jaime Meier

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Last year I walked into my first day of class in the MMSt program and was pleasantly surprised to see the room of women before me. Despite this female majority, a handful of men, and certainly not all, have taken it upon themselves to occupy the most space. One went as far as to say that he "speaks for the class," as the silence of women during discussion may be interpreted as an apprehension to participate rather than contemplation for a thoughtful answer. Others will have a moment of self awareness and acknowledge that they "talk too much," but continue to take up space or repeatedly add their commentary to the chat box. The men mentioned would be horrified to learn that their actions had negative impacts on their female colleagues, as it is not done out of a dislike of women, but because systems of oppression rely on separation, whether it be gendered or racially based. I find myself fearing these dynamics will continue within museum spaces once I enter the workforce. 

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I strive to participate in class discussion and use in-class activities and written assignments to assert my thoughts and critically engage, which has led to a male professor branding me as "brazen" — to be bold and without shame. While I am willing to embrace this term, I wonder if the men dominating discussion are ever called brazen or if their opinions and statements are easily accepted as being reasonable. It is also not lost on me that Audre Lorde has called attention to the ways Black women have been associated with hostility when expressing sentiments similar to white women, such as myself, or men. Lorde continues on to say that we "too often pour the energy needed for recognizing and exploring difference into pretending they are insurmountable differences." This has led me to reflect on how the MMSt program has been preparing or under-preparing us to face and overcome these challenges in the field. 

It has often been students and student organizations working to challenge systems of oppression present within the MMSt program. A Report on Diversity and Inclusion Experiences at the Faculty of Information was created based on a survey in June 2020 and was compiled by Oy Lein Jace Harrison and Lo Humeniuk, members of the Diversity Working Group, and Dominica Tang from Museum Professionals of Colour in collaboration with the Accessibility Interests Working Group, the Doctoral Student Association Indigenous Connections Working Group, the Master of Information Student Council, and Master of Museum Studies Student Association. Over 130 students, faculty, and alumni attended the panel discussion on the report. The report highlights the lack of inclusion in regards to BIPOC, people with disabilities, and the LGBTQ2+ community and how these topics have been handled in an inappropriate way that has left students feeling unsafe. Reports such as these can be difficult to absorb and implement, as challenging systems threaten those within power, but growth is not possible without feedback and critique.

Courtesy of the Diversity Working Group, Museum Professionals of Colour, Accessibility Interests Working Group, the Doctoral Student Association Indigenous Connections Working Group, the Master of Information Student Council, and the Master of Museum Studies Student Association. 

The students and organizations who participated in the survey, put together demands for change, and led the panel discussion, were not compensated for their labour. Many of the published comments from the survey mention difficult experiences that were hard to endure the first time and I am sure were unpleasant to repeat. The coordination between six different student organizations is no easy task, getting three people together to discuss a project over zoom is difficult enough, not to mention the hours that were poured into the brilliantly executed report. Luckily, t I have many counterparts in MMSt with me, straight and queer, men, women, and non-binary people, and we all have a responsibility to each other to reduce the emotional toll that comes with our mere existence within a system that so often seeks to destroy difference in favour of assimilation. While I work on navigating my relationships with talkative men in MMSt and ensuring that I uplift rather than ignore the struggles experienced by BIPOC and people with disabilities, it is my hope that MMSt graduates will take reciprocity, inclusion, and relationality into the field with them, as oppression cannot survive as long as we bridge the gap together.

VIOLA DESMOND: NOTEWORTHY CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST

Walk of Fame | Martin Bierens

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In light of worldwide protests against racism and police brutality in response to the murder of George Floyd by four Minneapolis Police Department officers, I, along with many of us in the MMSt community have been educating myself on racial inequality/violence both in and out of the museum community. As part of my personal goal to become better informed on this issue, I have decided to examine the life of historical Canadian civil rights activist Viola Desmond. 

Canadian $10 Bank Note Featuring Viola Desmond, released 2018. Source.

Viola Desmond is perhaps the most recognizable face of the civil rights movement in Canada. You only need to open your wallet and look at a ten-dollar bill to see her. In 2018 Desmond replaced Canada’s first Prime Minister and architect of the Residential School system, John A. MacDonald to become the first solo woman featured on a Canadian banknote. Desmond features prominently on the front of the bill with a map of the historic North End of Halifax, where Desmond’s business was located. The backside of the bill features the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg. The museum was selected for the bill because it was the first museum dedicated to focusing on human rights and equality. (The decision to include the CMHR was prior to the reports of racism and discrimination, experienced by workers of CMHR by management, and the #CMHRStopLying campaign established by Thiané Diop.)

Before Viola Desmond was featured on the ten-dollar bill, she lived a successful, yet tragic life. Born in Halifax in 1914, Viola was one of ten children of James and Gwendolin Davis. Her father James was Black, and her mother Gwendolin was White, at a time when it violated social norms. As a child, Viola quickly realized her aspiration to open a beauty salon, she noticed that there was a lack of beauty products for Black women. Unfortunately, due to her race Desmond was rejected from beauty schools in Nova Scotia, forcing her to train in Montreal and New York City. Returning to Nova Scotia, Desmond opened her own beauty salon and school which focused on Black women, The Desmond School of Beauty Culture. She opened her school so that other Black women would not have to travel from home as she had to receive proper training. Along with the salon and school, Desmond also established a line of beauty products, Vi’s Beauty Products.

Face Power from Vi's Beauty Products. Source.

Desmond had established herself as a successful entrepreneur in Halifax and was growing her business across Nova Scotia when she was arrested in Sydney on November 8, 1946. Desmond’s car had broken down earlier that day forcing her to spend the night in Sydney. She decided to pass the time by viewing a movie at the Roseland Film Theatre. Desmond bought a ticket wishing to seat herself on the floor section of the theatre, to which a theatre employee said, “I can’t sell downstairs tickets to you people.” There were two sections of the theatre, the floor, and the balcony. Though there were no formal laws or any signage in the theatre, it was understood that the theatre was segregated, with White patrons allowed on the floor and Black patrons forced to view from the balcony. This method of racial segregation appears to be uniquely Canadian, according to Former Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia and Black woman, Mayann Francis.

“The racism in the United States was truly in your face. In Canada, the racism was very polite – sort of undercover.”

Desmond selected a seat on the floor, and was quickly approached by a theatre worker who attempted to force her to change seats, she refused because she was nearsighted and had a better view on the floor. The police were called and forcibly removed Desmond from the theatre, injuring her hip.

Roseland Film Theatre, Sydney, Nova Scotia During Period of Segregation. White People on Main Floor and Black People on Balcony. Source.

Desmond was held in jail overnight, where she was not informed of her rights to a lawyer or bail. Because there was not a formal law enforcing racial segregation, the court charged her with tax evasion. Because the ticket-seller sold Desmond a balcony seat, she did not pay the full tax for a floor seat. The amount of tax Desmond evaded was one cent. Desmond was forced to pay a twenty-dollar fine (equivalent to $300 today), for a one-cent violation. This charge is emblematic of the covert racism in Canada, while the official charge was not related to her race, it is obvious that the charge came as a result of racial discrimination.

Desmond, with the help of the Nova Scotia Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, hired a lawyer and filed a lawsuit against the Roseland Film Theatre, despite resistance from her husband. However, due to the covert nature of Desmond’s charge, the official language of the case focused entirely on tax evasion with no reference to Desmond’s race, and the lawsuit was unsuccessful.

After the trial, Desmond closed her business, and her marriage fell apart. Eventually, she would leave Halifax and settle in New York, where she would die from gastrointestinal bleeding in 1965. Before her experience at the theatre, Desmond was a woman full of life and optimism. After that day it seems that this radiant energy was forcibly drained from her.

Former Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia Mayann Francis (Left) and Viola Desmond's Sister Wanda Robson (Right) at Ceremony of Viola Desmond's Legal Pardon in 2010. Source.

The actions of Viola Desmond helped to spark the modern civil rights movement in Canada. In 2010, Mayann Francis granted a posthumous pardon to Desmond. The pardon recognizes the error of the charge, deeming Desmond innocent of any crime. Francis at the time remarked, 

“Here I am, 64 years later – a Black woman giving freedom to another Black woman.”

If you would like to learn more about Viola Desmond, she is featured in an exhibition at the CMHR, The Bank of Canada Museum, The Bank of Canada Webpage, a Heritage Minute, and the Nova Scotia Museum.